{"id":21568,"date":"2023-08-26T07:07:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T07:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/rogue-pepecoin-team-members-blamed-for-16m-pepe-multsig-withdrawal\/"},"modified":"2023-08-26T07:07:52","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T07:07:52","slug":"rogue-pepecoin-team-members-blamed-for-16m-pepe-multsig-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/crypto\/rogue-pepecoin-team-members-blamed-for-16m-pepe-multsig-withdrawal\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogue Pepecoin team members blamed for $16M PEPE multsig withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The circumstances behind the mysterious $16 million withdrawal from the Pepecoin (PEPE) project\u2019s multisig wallet have seemingly been revealed, with the finger being pointed at three ex-team members who went rogue. <\/p>\n

On Aug. 24, the price of PEPE plunged by roughly 15% amid fears of a potential rug-pull after the community spotted that $16 million worth of PEPE was withdrawn from the Pepe multisig wallet and sent to several exchanges. <\/p>\n

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1\/4<\/p>\n

1 hour ago, the Pepe multisig wallet, changed the amount of signatures required on their multisig from a 5\/8 to 2\/8. This comes after sending $15.7 million worth of $PEPE<\/a> to exchanges.<\/p>\n

A breakdown of what we know: pic.twitter.com\/bxBxp6Nzqz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 ASXN (@asxn_r) August 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Clearing up the matter in an Aug. 25 post on X (Twitter), one of the anonymous founding members behind Pepecoin provided a community announcement from the @pepecoineth account, detailing what they claim had happened. <\/p>\n

According to the statement, three team members abruptly stole the funds from the multisig and then abandoned the project completely, leaving it in full control to the sole remaining member. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe multi-sig was set up to require 3\/4 signers present for an approval. Yesterday these 3 ex-team members came back behind my back, logged onto the multi-sig, stole 16 Trillion\/ 60% of the 26 trillion multi-sig tokens, and sent them to exchanges to sell.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThey then removed themselves from the multisig in an attempt to absolve any association to $PEPE, deleting all of their social accounts and leaving me behind nothing but a message stating \u2018the multisig has been updated, you are now in full control,\u2019\u201d they added. <\/p>\n

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an announcement to the $PEPE<\/a> community: <\/p>\n

Yesterday on August 24th, 2023, a series of unexpected transactions took place from the $PEPE<\/a> multisig CEX
Wallet in which ~16 Trillion $PEPE<\/a> tokens (worth roughly $15m USD) were transferred to various crypto exchanges (OKX, Binance,\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/iZmXV1TAvw<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Pepe (@pepecoineth) August 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The founding member claimed that the X account and the remaining 10 trillion PEPE in the multsig are now in safe hands, with the funds set to be transferred to a new wallet where \u201cthey will safely rest until a use or burn arises.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was also asserted that these former members were difficult to work with since Pepecoin launched in April, and had held the project back from progress on its various targets. <\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>PEPE whale seizes dip opportunity, buys $529K worth of tokens<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Moving forward, the remaining member claimed they will do what\u2019s right for the PEPE community now that the bad actors have gone. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince its inception, $PEPE has unfortunately been plagued by inner strife with a portion of the team being bad actors led by big egos and greed,\u201d they said, adding that: <\/p>\n

\u201cAs I process what has happened, I look forward to a future for $PEPE where I will be able to operate with the community and tokens\u2019 best intention in mind and no negligent team members and locked multisig situation blocking me from doing what is best.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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The telegram group for $PEPE<\/a> is currently locked down, the old telegram account for the group owner was hacked and the group was taken over. In the process of trying to regain access or make a new one. All official communication for $PEPE<\/a> will take place via the @pepecoineth<\/a>\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/lQFTu02jub<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Pepe (@pepecoineth) August 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reaction was mixed in the comments, with some in support or bullish on the announcement, while others were questioning the truth of these claims. <\/p>\n

Comments on the Pepecoin announcement. Source: X<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the time of writing, the price of PEPE has increased by 5.7% over the past 24 hours to sit at $$0.000000895278, with a current market cap of $382.7 million according to data from CoinGecko. <\/p>\n

Magazine: <\/em><\/strong>What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n